Earnest FAQs

We offer a variety of options to help you pay back your loan while you work towards completing your education. If youre looking to take out an Earnest loan as a solo borrower, we offer deferred* and fixed repayment options. If youre looking to apply with a cosigner on your Earnest loan, we offer four options: deferred*, fixed, interest-only and full repayment. (If you are unsure if you should apply with a cosigner or not, check out this article. )

These four options highlight Earnests available in-school repayment plans.

Deferred*: $0 is due while youre in school and for the first 9 months after graduation. 9 months following graduation, the full minimum monthly payments will be due. The option results in the highest accrued interest and the highest total cost of the loan.

Fixed: While in school and for the 9 months following graduation, youll make monthly payments of $25. Nine months following your graduation the full minimum monthly payments will be due.

Interest-only: (This option is available for cosigned loans only.) While in school and for the 9 months following graduation, youll make monthly payments to cover the interest that accrued on your loan since last payment. Nine months following your graduation the full minimum monthly payments will be due.

Full payment: (This option is available for cosigned loans only.) While in school and following graduation the full minimum monthly payments will be due. This option will enable you to pay the least amount of interest during the life of the loan.

When deciding which repayment option is right for you, its important to consider what financial commitment will you be able to meet while youre in school. Clients with little savings and no plans to work while in school find that deferred or fixed are good options. Clients with savings, a source of income, or some other source of loan payments (like a family member) generally find that interest-only or full repayment options work best for them. When deciding between the options, you may find that a budgeting tool could help with planning.

If you choose an option that enables you to make no or partial payments while youre in school and the 9-month grace period following graduation, its important to know a few things.

To keep the loan in a no payment or partial payment status while attending school, you are required to be enrolled at least half time, without interruption, until the date of your graduation.

If your school reports to us that youre enrolled less than half time, or provides a last date of attendance, your loan will then enter the 9-month grace period. This is the 9 months following your graduation when you continue to make the same payments made while in school. Full repayments will be due once your grace period ends.

If you leave your program without completing a degree, you will enter the 9 month grace period. After the 9-month grace period, you will begin to make full payments.

We hope this information written out above is helpful. If you prefer to see the info in a table format, check out the table below

Deferred*

Available for cosigned and independent loans

Fixed $25 Payment

Available for cosigned and independent loans

Interest-only

Available for cosigned loans only

Full repayment

Available for cosigned loansonly

How will my payments be set up?

$0 due until 9 months after graduation, full payments due thereafter.

Pay $25 fixed monthly payments until 9 months after graduation, full payments due thereafter

Pay just the interest that accrues on your loan each month until 9 months after graduation, full payments due thereafter

Start making full principal & interest payments while in school and continuing after that

When will my first payment be due?

9 months after graduation

$25/fixed payments: 23-58 days after the first disbursement of your loan

Full repayments: 9 months after you graduate

Interest only payments: 23-58 days after the first disbursement of your loan

Full repayments: 9 months after you graduate

23-58 days after the first disbursement of your loan

Enrollment Requirement?

Must be enrolled at least half time, without interruption, until the date of your graduation.

Yes, if your school reports to us that youre enrolled less than half time, or provides a last date of attendance, your loan will then enter grace period and, full repayments will be due once your grace period ends

Yes, if your school reports to us that youre enrolled less than half time, or provides a last date of attendance, your loan will then enter grace period and, full repayments will be due once your grace period ends

Yes, if your school reports to us that youre enrolled less than half time, or provides a last date of attendance, your loan will then enter grace period and, full repayments will be due once your grace period ends

Not applicable

Interest rate options

Fixed/Variable

Fixed/Variable

Fixed/Variable

Fixed/Variable

Grace Period

Amount of time between when you graduate (or your last date of attendance) and when your first full payment will be due on your loan

9 months

9 months

9 months

Not applicable

Overall loan cost

Results in the highest total loan cost.

Results in a small reduction to your total loan cost.

Results in a larger reduction to your total loan cost.

Results in the lowest total loan cost.

* Not available to residents of AL, AZ, CA, FL, MA, MD, MI, ND, NJ, NY, OH, PA, and WA. For residents of KY, your loan amount must be $15,000.01 or larger to be eligible for the deferred repayment option.

We're unable to refinance loans that have not originated with an institution in the U.S.

You can check out more of our eligibility criteria here.

What is it?

When you share your personal referral link or code with your friends and family, you'll each get $200 when they refinance their student loans with Earnest (currently we're not offering referral bonuses on our personal loans or private student loans). If you were referred to Earnest by a website, blog, podcast or employer; you'll want to check out this article instead.

Referral bonuses are generally paid within 30 days of the referral signing their loan agreement.

Who is eligible?

As a referrer, you must:

Be a legal resident of the United States of America (excluding Massachusetts, Michigan, and Kentucky);

Be of the age of majority in your state of residence

Maintain an Earnest account

As a referral, you must:

Be a legal resident of the United States of America (excluding Massachusetts, Michigan, and Kentucky);

Be the age of majority in your state of residence;

Never had an Earnest loan;

Complete the application process with the Referrers unique referral URL or identifier code. If the application is complete using any other partner link or marketing method, the registration will not count as a qualified referral and the referrer and referral will not earn Reward(s);

Contract for a student loan refinance with the company and cannot cancel the loan within any applicable grace period

Our clients inMassachusetts, Michigan, and Kentucky are unable to participate in this referral plan due to state limitations.

How do I refer someone?

Youll want to share your unique referral link with whom you would like to refer. Theyll click the link to begin their Earnest profile and loan application. You can find your referral link using the directions below.

Log into your Earnest account.

Click the " here " tab found at the top of your dashboard home page.

From the referral page, you'll be able to copy your referral link to share.

Your referral will use your unique link to create an Earnest profile. If they are approved and sign their loan agreement, both you and your referral will receive $200. Bonuses are generally paid out within 30 days of your referral signing their loan agreement.

I forgot to use my referrals unique link or I already started an Earnest profile before being referred. What are my options?

In the case that you already signed your loan agreement, we are unable to retroactively apply the referral bonus. Our apologies for the inconvenience.

If you havent signed your loan agreement yet, you can manually add the referral link to your profile using the directions below.

Log into your Earnest account.

Click the " " tab found at the top of your dashboard home page.

Once on the referral page, drop the referral link in the Being referred by a friend? box and hit the apply code button.

Within 30 days of signing your loan agreement, you and your referral will receive $200.

How do I know if my link was used?

Once your referral uses your link and creates an Earnest account, youll see a My Referrals box populate in your referral dashboard. You can access your referral dashboard using the directions below.

Log into your Earnest account.

Click the " " tab found at the top of your dashboard home page

Your My Referrals box will look similar to this:

If you do not see a My Referrals box, youll want to check in with your referral to see if they have started an account with your link.

I forgot to use my referrals unique link or I already started an Earnest profile before being referred. What are my options?

If you havent signed your loan agreement yet, you can manually add the referral link to your profile using the directions below.

Log into your Earnest account.

Click the " " tab found at the top of your dashboard home page.

Once on the referral page, drop the referral link in the Being referred by a friend? box and hit the apply code button.

Within 30 days of signing your loan agreement, you and your referral will receive $200.

If you have already signed your loan agreement, we are unable to retroactively apply the referral bonus. Our apologies for the inconvenience.

Haven't received your referral bonus yet?

If it's been over 30 days since your referral signed their loan agreement, please have your referral contact our Client Happiness Team at [email protected]. They'll need to provide us the following:

The first and last name of who referred them

The email address associated with their friend's Earnest account

The unique referral link

Example: https://www.earnest.com/invite/referrer'sfirstname.uniquenumber

Further information about our terms and conditions applicable to our referral program can be seen .

When youre approved, you are automatically approved for the entire eligible student loan amount listed on your credit report. However, we do not require that you take a loan out for your entire student loan debt.

During the "payoff details" section of our loan acceptance process, you'll have the ability to tell us which loans you would like to pay off. You should only enter the account information and payoff details for loans you'd like paid off, and omit the loan payoff details for loans you'd like to keep with your existing servicer. Once you've done this, we will manage the payoff process with your loan servicer(s).

Our private student loans start at $1,000 (unless specified by the state of residence) up to your entire cost of attendance for the academic year. Please note, if youre considering a cosigned private student loan, the student and cosigner must live in the District of Columbia or a state that we lend in but they do not need to both live in the same state. Check out the chart below for more details.

State of Residence

Loan Minimum

Loan Maximum

Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia (D.C.), Florida, Iowa, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland,Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Wyoming

$1,000

Up to your entire cost of attendance

Alabama

$2,000

Up to your entire cost of attendance

California

$2,500

Up to your entire cost of attendance

Georgia

$3,000.01

Up to your entire cost of attendance

Kentucky

$15,000.01

Up to your entire cost of attendance

Massachusetts

$6,000.01

Up to your entire cost of attendance

North Dakota

$1,000.01

Up to your entire cost of attendance

New Mexico

$2,500.01

Up to your entire cost of attendance

Rhode Island

$5,000.01

Up to your entire cost of attendance

If your stateisn'ton this list, were currently unable to consider you for a private student loan. We hope to add more in the near future, so please check back in!

We currently offer our private student loansin Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Washington D.C., West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Primary applicants and their cosigners (if applicable) must both reside in states we lend in.

We currently offer our student loan refinancingand personal loansin Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois*, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota*, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire*, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio*, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee*, Texas*, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Washington D.C., West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Currently, we do not offer the ability to add cosigners to our student loan refinancing or personal loans.

Regardless of where you live, you can create a user profile so you can be at the top of the list when we offer loans in your state.

*Within the United States, regulations on fixed and variable interest rates are governed at the state level. In some states, the regulations on variable rates are not aligned with our current rate ranges. As a result, we do not offer variable rates in these markets.

We aim to provide decisions to clients as soon as possible and we can generally provide a decision within 2-5 business days. You will receive an email from us within 2 business days requesting any additional information we need to move forward. This can extend the time it takes to decide on your loan.

Navient account numbers are 10-digit numbers that begin with 9. Youll find this in your account or on any statement for your loan. If you have a private loan with Navient, youll need to speak with a Navient representative directly to get your 10-day payoff amount by calling 1 (888) 272-5543. That information is currently not available in your Navient online account. If you have a federal loan, youll find your 10-day payoff amount in the Loan Payoff Calculations section of your account.

Visit Navient.

Sign in with your user ID and password.

Select "Tools & Requests" on left menu bar.

Select "Interest Accrual Estimator".

Use the amount calculated from the "Interest Accrual Estimator" and add this to your current loan balance. This will be your 10-day payoff.

Enter the total amount in the "10-DAY PAYOFF AMT" field under the "Payoff Details" section of accepting your Earnest loan offer.

Youll select your payoff address depending on the type of Navient loan.

Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) or Health Education Assistance Loans (HEAL) loans:

NavientP.O. Box 9533Wilkes-Barre, PA 18773-9533

Some private loans go to this address as well. If your statement looks like this, then you should select this payoff address.

Department of Education loans:

Navient - U.S. Department of Education Loan ServicingP.O. Box 4450Portland, OR 97208-4450

Private loans have loan group numbers that are 16 digits beginning with 5 and are payable to:

NavientP.O. Box 9000Wilkes-Barre, PA 18773

Statements for loans to this address will look like this.

Your individual loans will be identified either as individual Billing Groups or by Loan IDs for Private and Department of Education loans. This information is included on your billing statement or is available by calling Navient directly.

To speak with a Navient representative, call 1 (800) 722-1300.

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Your school may not be listed in our application if it is not considered a Title IV-accredited, not-for-profit institution.

We can only provide student loans to help pay for a bachelor's degree or above at a college or university that is accredited with the U.S. Department of Education under Title IV. If you are unsure whether your school is accredited, you can consult this federal student code list.

Does your school meet the criteria above but it's still not showing on our school list?

We're expanding our private student loans to more schools each semester. Check back in with us each academic year to see if we've started working with your school.

You'll have access to an online loan dashboard to set up payments, access loan documents, and view loan details. However, you'll be unable to update the primary account holders personal information (such as their address, phone number, name, etc.).

For payments, you can use your personal online dashboard to enroll in auto pay (please note that the primary and the cosigner cannot simultaneously be enrolled in autopay) or make manual payments towards the loan.

If you would like to mail in a payment. You can send those here:

PO Box 9255Wilkes Barre, PA 18773-9255

When mailing in a payment, make sure to include the 16-digit loan number and 10-digit account number. The loan number and account number can be found on any loan statement.

School certification is a process that involves your school verifying your loan details and certifying that it matches their records. Earnest will send your loan details directly to your school to have the loan certified.

What information will my school verify?

Loan amount - your school will add the loan amount you are requesting from Earnest to any other loans/financial aid to ensure your funding is not exceeding your cost of attendance (COA). For more information about the cost of attendance, check here.

Your enrollment status

Your graduation date

Your grades - your school may require that you are meeting satisfactory academic progress (SAP) to be eligible for funding. If you are in your first semester, you will be considered as making satisfactory academic progress since no grades will be on file yet.

Disbursement date - your school will let us know when they want to receive the loan funds.

Your school will then certify your loan in one of the following ways:

Certified: no changes need to be made to the loan

Certified with changes: they may lessen the loan amount due to the cost of attendance and other aid/loans, or make minor adjustments to ensure the loan matches the school information. Please note, your school will never ask to have the loan increased.

No certification: your school will not accept the loan.

We'll let you know via email once your school certifies your loan.

Is there anything I need to do?

We'll let you know via email once your school certifies your loan. There may be some steps that your school will need you to complete before they will certify your loan. Some schools may require a short, informational course on accepting a private loan, or an orientation class. Your school should reach out if they require these steps before certifying your loan. If you are waiting on the certification for more than two weeks, we recommend touching base with your school's financial aid office to confirm if they need any additional steps from you.

How long does school certification take?

The timing for this can vary by school. Some schools certify loans within a few weeks of classes beginning, while others may have a 3-5 week processing timeframe no matter when they receive your loan information. Our recommendation is to apply and finalize your Earnest in-school student loan as soon as you can. This will allow ample time for your school to certify the loan and set up the disbursement of your funds so you are ready for your upcoming semester.

How many years should I repay my loan over?

Choosing a shorter loan term means youll pay less over the life of the loan, resulting in more savings! It's important to also consider that a shorter-term has a higher monthly payment.

It takes 2-4 business days for us to process paper checks received at our mailing address for paper checks. The address where we will accept paper checks will be:

PO Box 9202

Wilkes Barre, PA 18773-9202

Please note that mailing checks to our San Francisco office may result in additional processing time. Payments are applied on the day they finish processing, rather than the day they are received. Finally, please make sure that your check contains your full name,16-digit loan number,and10-digit account number. These numbers can be found on any loan statement.

We do not charge origination, prepayment, early payment, or extra payment fees. Because we process all application and loan information online, we cut down costs significantly and pass those savings on as lower rates for our clients. The primary way we generate revenue is from the interest received on our loans. However, if any payment made towards your loan is returned, we reserve the right to charge up to $8 to pay the charges assessed by any institution for processing a returned payment.

For all loan documents executed in Florida, a stamp tax of 0.35% (for example $21 on a loan of $6,000, or portion thereof) is levied by the state government. Earnest applies the stamp tax upfront by debiting the amount from your bank account on the day following the initial loan transfer for personal loans. The transaction will be labeled FL Documentary Stamp Tax. All of this tax goes directly to the Florida Department of Revenue.For student loan refinances, Earnest will add the stamp tax to the principal loan amount, and the amount of the stamp tax will be provided in the Final Disclosure.Certificate of Registration No. 78-8016373916-1.

If you were referred to Earnest by a website, blog or employer to refinance your student loans(currently we're not offering referral bonuses on our personal loans or private student loans), you'll want to ensure you use their referral pathway to create an Earnest profile and apply for a loan. Once approved, we'll send your signing bonus to your linked payment account within 30 days of signing your loan agreement.

If it's been 30 days since you signed your loan agreement and you have not received your bonus, please reach out to our Client Happiness team. You can contact us by clicking the "Get In Touch" button found below this article.

Were you referred by or did you refer a friend or family member? Check out this article instead.

If you have a personal loan, you'll want to update your address using these directions.

The process for updating the address on your student loan profile depends on the stage of the refinancing process you've made it to.

Finally, if you have an active account oryou've started an application by using the rate check tool, but have not yet submitted it, you can update your address in your online profile by doing the following:

Log into your Earnest profile.

Go to the "My Profile" tab on the top of the page.

Click on the "Personal" tab from the menu on the left.

Update your address.

Save changes.

Please note that we cannot acceptinternationaladdresses or P.O. boxes asyour address.

If you've submitted an application or if you have an open loan offer, you'll be unable to update your address in your online profile. We're happy to update it for you but willneed a little documentation to verify your new address. Please upload one of the following documents to your Earnest account:

Utility bill, not more than two months old, issued directly to you and verifying a physical address (examples include gas, electric, sewer, water, cable or landline phone bill; cell phone bills are not accepted)

Current homeowner's insurance policy or bill showing your physical address

Property Deed

Mortgage or monthly mortgage statement

A residential rental/lease agreement

To upload the document, log into your Earnest profile, go to the "My Profile" tab, and select "Uploads" from the menu on the left. Once it's been uploaded, send us a quick email at [email protected] to let us know it's there.

What if I need a loan for more than one year?

We can only fund one academic year at a time. You'll need to fill out a new application for each upcoming school year.

What if I need a loan for a single semester/term?

You can apply for a loan for a single semester/term. You'll want to list your costs and current funding for only the semester/term funding is needed for.

Can I pay for a past due balance with my school?

Yes, we can help pay for a past due balance as long as its less than 1 year old. If the past due balance is from a previous academic year, youll need to submit a separate application apart from any loan you need for an upcoming academic year.

Should I list the cost for my entire degree?

We'll need a new application each year, so you'll list your costs (not just loan amount) for the academic year. However, if you're looking for funding for a single semester or term, we'll only need the cost for that timeframe.

What costs can I include?

Your eligible covered costs are determined by your schools cost of attendance.

Common expenses are:

Tuition & Fees

Room & Board

Books

Transportation

Supplies

Child Care

Less common or one-time costs:

Computer

Study-Abroad Programs

Medical

Since all payments received on your loan will be applied to interest first, then to principal, we're unable to offer a principal-only payment option. However, by making an extra payment on the same day as your due date, the majority of that extra payment, if not all of the extra payment, will go towards your principal balance. You can find directions on how to schedule an extra payment here.

If you're enrolled in auto pay, you can increase your monthly auto pay above the minimum payment amount to have more of your payment go towards principal each month. To increase your monthly auto pay, contact Client Happiness Team directly by clicking the "Get In Touch" button found at the bottom of this article.

To schedule a one time, extra payment you'll want to:

Log in to your Earnest dashboard

Click

Click

You may schedule a same-day payment or for any date up to 60 days in the future. Please note, if you're enrolled in Auto Pay, extra payments will not replace your monthly auto payments.

What can I expect from your deferred plan (if available)?

$0 due while in school until 9 months after the date of your graduation or the date you stop attending school at least half-time

Highest total loan cost compared to our other payment options

What can I expect from your fixed plan?

$25/month while in school until 9 months after the date of your graduation or the date you stop attending school at least half-time

Lower total loan cost than deferred plan

What can I expect from your interest only plan?

Pay the accrued interest each month until 9 months after graduation or date you stop attending school at least half-time

Lower total loan cost than deferred and $25 fixed plans

What can I expect from your full payment plan?

Pay full monthly payments while attending school until the end of the loan term you choose.

Lowest total loan cost compared to our other plans

Need more info? Check here

We know that unexpected life events can affect your budget, so we offer clients with a student loan or student loan refinance the ability to skip one payment every 12 months. Your first request to skip a payment can be made once you've made at least 6 months of consecutive on-time, full principal and interest payments, and your loan is in good standing.

We require a completed request form to process a Skip-A-Payment request. The form is available at the bottom of this article. To apply, first download and complete the form shown below. Then, upload the completed form to your Earnest profile.

The request form includes specific instructions for uploading the form to your profile. Please note that we're currently unable to process requests received via email. Instead, please sign in to your Earnest dashboard and select My Profile > Uploads. Choose "Other" as the type of document.

A few restrictions apply to skipped payments. They are outlined in the request form, and include (but are not necessarily limited to) the following:

Requests must be received no less than five (5) business days before the due date of the payment you want to skip.

A skipped payment counts towards the forbearance limits outlined in your loan agreement.

Skipping a payment is not guaranteed and is at Earnest's discretion.

Personal loans and coding boot camp loans are ineligible for the Skip-A-Payment feature.

Student loans are not eligible for Skip-A-Payment requests while in deferred, $25 fixed or interest only repayment schedules.

Re-refinancing an existing Earnest loan to new terms re-sets the payment clock. After re-refinancing, you'll have to make six months of consecutive on-time, full principal and interest payments before being eligible for Skip-A-Payment again.

Important note, the final payoffdate of your loan will be extended by the length of the skipped payment period. Also, theinterestaccrued during the skipped monthwill result in a slight increase in your minimum payment amount to keep your payments pacing appropriately to pay off.

Finally, if you are unable to make your upcomingpayment(s) or are experiencing financial hardship, it may be a better idea to apply for hardship forbearance. Please let us know as soon as you're experiencing the difficulty, and click here for more information.

Often, for loans in deferment or a grace period, loan servicers do not provide billing statements. Instead, they provide an "interest notice" or "interest bill." We're happy to accept an upload of the interest notice or interest bill in replacement of a billing statement as long as it includes:

Your name

Your lender's name

Account number

Balance of the loan

If you're not receiving these documents or statements from your servicer, we have a few recommendations on how to obtain them from your lender:

Check your online account for the ability to download documents/statements

Reach out to your lender directly for options

Take a screenshot of your online account that shows the 4 items mentioned above

Your first payment date will always be at least 25 days and at most 60 days from when you sign your loan agreement. Your estimated first payment date is included in your loan agreement. Your loan agreement is included in an automated welcome email we send shortly after you sign.

You'll receive your first statement about 15-20 days before the estimated date provided on your loan agreement. Your first statement will confirm your exact due date and monthly payment amount.

Eventually, your regular payment date will display in your online profile. If you're enrolled in auto pay, you'll always see a total payment due of $0. We'll confirm your next auto payment amount by providing a message on the Summary page of your dashboard. Here's an example of what you should see:

With a fixed rate, it is still possible for your minimum payment amount to increase. Any changes made to your payment schedule can cause an increase in your minimum payment. Here's a list of changes that could impact your minimum payment amount:

Your loan has been in deferment, forbearance, grace or skip-a-pay

Your payment due date has changed.

Your interest rate has changed, due to opting out or in to auto pay.

Your repayment terms have been extended.

Your modified repayment plan, which required interest-only payments on this loan for a specified period of time, has ended.

In all of these cases, the minimum would increase to reflect the increase in the interest you've accrued (and are expected to accrue) on your loan.

If your payment amount increases and none of the reasons above apply, please contact Client Happiness. We'll be happy to take a look.

Yes, we recommend you keep making payments until your previous servicer shows a $0 balance. We never want to risk you having a late payment in the event that our loan payoff payment has not been processed by your previous servicer

Our payoff may post after your payment, which tends to create a negative balance with your previous lender. This refund balance will either be sent back directly to you or back to us. In most cases, your loan servicer will send the funds back to us and we'll apply them to the principal balance of your loan. Receiving the refund and applying it to your account can take about 30-45 days.

The age of majority is the legal age a minor becomes an adult and the age is determined by the state you live in. The age of majority is 18 in most states, except Alabama (19), Mississippi (21), and Nebraska (19). At Earnest, the student and cosigner (if applicable) must be at the age of majority at the time they apply.

You can find all our Private Student Loan eligibility here.

We're able to consider the following employment and non-employment income types:

Employment income: salaries, wages, commissions, bonuses and earnings from self-employment

Non-employment income: interest income, rental income, capital gains, dividend income, retirement income, social security benefits, unemployment benefits, alimony & child support, and/or other sources of public assistance.

We aim to credit you with the total gross income you will earn this calendar year. In order to be credited to your application, your income needs to come from a stable source and be verifiable through documentation. In general, we look to see that you earn more than you spend (i.e. have a positive cash flow) and that your income is high enough to support your total debt load.

Income can be complicated. If youre unsure what to include in your application, please contact our Client Happiness team. Well be happy to discuss!

What is my citizenship or residency status?

You're a U.S. Citizen ifyou were born in the U.S. or came to the U.S. through the naturalization process.

You're a Permanent Resident if you have a 10-year (non-conditional) Permanent Resident Card.

If neither of the above applies to you, select Other.

After you sign your loan agreement, we are legally required to wait three days in case you decide to change the terms of your loan (such as the amount). Earnest will then begin to send the payoff funds to your loan servicer(s). We'll send you an email once we have confirmation that your old loan servicer(s) have our payoff. Please note, although we have confirmation that your servicer(s) have the payoff funds it does not technically mean they have applied the funds to your account. This can typically take an additional 1-3 weeks. We recommend continuing to make all required payments to your old servicer(s) until your loan balance is $0.

Worried that continuing to make payments will overpay your loan?

Your lender will send the overpayment amount back to us or to you. Most of the time, loan servicers send the funds back to us and once received, we'll apply those funds to the principal balance of your loan. This process can take 30-45 days.

We are happy to receive your feedback. Please give us a call during business hours (Monday-Friday 8am-5pm Pacific Time) at (888) 601-2801 or email us at [email protected] to file a complaint.

What are more examples of non-employment income?

Disability income, alimony & child support, interest income, capital gains, dividend income, retirement income, unemployment benefits, and/or other sources of public assistance.

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What can I expect from choosing this repayment plan?

Pay the only the accrued interest each month until 9 months after graduation or date of separation, whichever comes first

Lower total loan cost than deferred option (if available) and $25/fixed option

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What can I expect from choosing this repayment plan?

$0 due while in school until 9 months after the date of your graduation or the date you stop attending school at least half-time.

Highest total loan cost compared to our other payment options.

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What can I expect from choosing this repayment plan?

$25 monthly payments while in school until 9 months after graduation or the date you stop attending school at least half-time.

Lower total loan cost than deferred option (if available)

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What can I expect from choosing this repayment plan?

Pay full monthly payments while attending school until the end of the loan term you choose.

Lowest total loan cost compared to other repayment options

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What's the difference between fixed & variable rates?

With a fixed rate, the interest rate and payment remain the same through the life of the loan. Variable interest rate means the interest rate and payment can go up, down, or stay the same each month.

The minimum term and interest rate that you have been approved for is based on our comprehensive review of your financial profile. As we evaluate your application, we examine how affordable each of our loan terms (5 - 20 years) would be in the context of your current finances. We determine the shortest and longest loan terms that we're able to approve you for and give you a full range of options between them.

We're unable to approve loan terms outside 5-20 years. However, if you're planning to pay your loan off in less than 5 years, we do not charge any prepayment penalties or fees so you'll have the ability to still meet your payoff goal by making larger payments than the monthly minimum.

Need a loan for a full academic year?

Start date - First-day classes begin in the academic year

End date - Date classes end for the academic year

A single semester/term?

Start date - First day of classes for term/semester

End date - Last day of classes for term/semester

A loan for more than one academic year?

We can only approve a loan application for one academic year at a time. You'll want to re-apply for an Earnest loan before the beginning of each academic year.

A loan for previous expenses?

We may be able to cover previous academic costs if they are less than 1 year old.

We know new circumstances may affect your ability to make payments, so we provide a range of protections should your financial situation change.

For ourpersonal loan protections, click here.

For ourstudent loan refinancing protections, click here.

Your FedLoan account number is a 10-digit number on your statement or in your FedLoan account. To get your 10-day payoff information, you can speak with FedLoan directly at 1 (800) 699-2908.

To locate additional information about your FedLoan(s):

Log into your FedLoan account

Go to 'Mortgage Applicants' on the bottom right corner of the 'Account Summary' page

Select 'Download Letter'

As of July 1, 2019, the payoff address for FedLoans is:

Department of Education

FedLoans Servicing

P.O. Box 790234

St. Louis, MO 63179-0234

Does cosigned credit or loans count towards my credit history?

Any credit cards or loans that were opened with a cosigner can count as part of your credit history.

Need more info on credit history? Check here.

What's a credit score?

Credit scores are three-digit numbers that measure your ability to repay debts. Lenders, banks and even landlords can use your credit score to determine if you are eligible for credit, debt or lease.

What income does Earnest consider?

Your income must be verifiable and documented to be considered. Typical documents are pay stubs, W2s & tax returns. We're unable to consider cash deposits into a bank account as income.

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What's my enrollment status?

Generally, full-time enrollment is taking at least 12 credits each semester, however, enrollment status can vary depending on your college and the program you are completing.

Why is my school not on the list?

It's considered a for-profit institution

It's notTitle IV-accredited

It does not offer a bachelors degree or above program

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Yes! For paper checks: click here for our address and here for our processing timeline.

For ACH payments you'll need our current routing and account number. Please contact us to request them. These payments are subject to a 2-4 business day processing window from when we receive them.

Please know that we currently do not support payments initiated via ACH wire transfer.

What interest rate do you offer?

We offer some of the best interest rates in the whole market !

And here are some puppy pictures you may like:

Our biweekly Auto Pay option allows you to make payments every two weeks instead of once per month. This lets you sync your payments with your pay periods, and can also help reduce accrued interest. If you're interested in setting up biweekly auto payments, you can do so from your Earnest dashboard.

When can I enroll in biweekly payments?

If your "Summary" dashboard displays a "Change Auto Pay Frequency" button under the "Details" section, your account is ready to enroll. Generally speaking, you can enroll 6 days after your last payment due date. If your Earnest loan is new, you'll be able to switch to biweekly auto payments 20 days prior to your first due date.

How do I enroll in biweekly auto payments through my dashboard?

The process is different depending on if you have already made monthly automatic payments or not.

If you are not currently enrolled in Auto Pay:

1) First, opt in tomonthlyAuto Pay by:

Log in to your Earnest account here

Click the green "Loan Details" button

Once you're on the Summary page, scroll and open the "Details" tab

Click the green "Enroll In Auto Pay" button

Provide your bank details and click Submit"

2) Wait for your first monthly autopayment to process.

3) A week after this payment processes, follow the instructions below to finish your enrollment.

If youarecurrently enrolled inmonthlyAuto Pay,you can enroll in biweekly auto payments with these steps:

Log in to your Earnest account here

Click the green "Loan Details" button

Once you're on the Summary page, scroll and open the "Details" box

Click the green "Change Auto Pay Frequency" button

A pop-up window will appear. Change the payment frequency to "Every 2 Weeks"

From there, you can decide the payment date that works bestthis will be your first biweekly auto payment date. Your future payments will fall on the same day every two weeks thereafter.

Depending on the date you choose, your monthly auto payment will be canceled, and a manual monthly payment will be needed. If this is the case, you will see red messaging stating "ACTION REQUIRED." Please follow the directions in this messaging to ensure your loan stays on track.

Can I move from biweekly back to monthly if I need to?

Yes. You'll need to wait for your first biweekly auto payment to post to your account. Then you'll be able to use the "Change Auto Pay Frequency" button to move back to a monthly payment schedule.